Producing a revised 10-year Strategy and Flood Action Plan

WSP worked with the Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) to produce a revised 10-year Strategy and Flood Action Plan, which will prioritise interventions for local communities based on need and impact.

Location

England, UK

Client

Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA)

Created after the devastating flooding of winter 2013/14, the SRA was set up to provide Somerset with an extra level of flood protection and resilience. The partner organisations with members on the SRA board are:

Somerset Council
Parrett and Axe Brue Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs)
Environment Agency
Natural England
Wessex Regional Flood & Coastal Committee
Wessex Water

Facilitating workshops to support decision-making

To help the SRA’s board reach a consensus on the content and strategic intent of the Strategy and Flood Action Plan, we applied an integrated water management (IWM) mindset to coordinating its development. IWM is a collaborative approach to planning and managing all elements of the water cycle. It considers how water, wastewater and stormwater services can contribute to water security, public and environmental health, and urban amenity.

We facilitated workshops to encourage discussion. Using card storming – an interactive method of collecting feedback from participants – enabled us to capture both individual thinking and group collaboration.

partner organisations

10

NUMBER OF YEARS THE STRATEGY AND FLOOD ACTION PLAN SPANS

10

THE WINTER OF THE DEVASTATING FLOOODING IN SOMERSET

2014

Wide-ranging consultation and engagement

As well as the partner organisations represented on the board, the SRA has a range of key stakeholders. They include National Park Authorities, the National Farmers Union, the National Trust, environmental groups and landowners. It was important for all these parties to have the opportunity to inform the revised Flood Action Plan, discussing and understanding the ambition and priorities at carefully prepared and facilitated workshops. We fed the insights we gathered during these workshops into the development of the plan.

Because the SRA is funded through the council tax precept, it was particularly important that the revised plan reflects the priorities of Somerset residents. We engaged with the public through a series of in-person and online activities. An interactive platform helped bring the information to life.

Capturing a range of different viewpoints from the organisations that make up the SRA board prevented potential opportunities being missed in the development of the plan, which will lead to better outcomes for Somerset.

Richard Behan WSP Project Manager

Richard Behan WSP Project Manager

Enabling a flood-resilient future

The SRA Flood Action Plan is now a live document and sets out what will be done and ideas for the future. As will be seen, it takes all the main elements of this Strategy and incorporates them into a dynamic plan that evolves year by year, catchment by catchment, action by action.